ENGLAND AGONY AS MORGAN AND BILLINGS FORCED OUT OF SERIES
ENGLAND’S hopes of ending their India tour on a high have been dealt a major blow, with captain Eoin Morgan ruled out of their final two matches and Sam Billings also sidelined.
Both men were hurt in the field as England went 1-0 behind in the oneday international series on Tuesday. Morgan required four stitches in his right hand after tearing the webbing between his thumb and index finger, while Billings bruised his collarbone.
Jos Buttler will take the reins from Morgan for the second ODI today, leading out a side that will contain Liam
Livingstone on his 50-over debut and the once-capped Dawid Malan.
England have no time at all to bed the pair into their batting line-up but Malan, the world’s No.1 Twenty20 batsman, could step up to the No.3 slot he has made his own in the shorter format, although Ben Stokes may well stay there. Livingstone can potentially slot in at six.
Morgan took part in a fielding drill yesterday but was soon certain he would not be in a position to pull his weight. ‘I had the hand re-dressed before training but it quickly became apparent I found myself protecting the injury and getting into the wrong positions to catch the ball,’ he said.
‘There’s nowhere to hide on the field in international cricket these days, especially in limited overs, so it didn’t require any great thought to make myself unavailable. It was a freak injury and it’s extremely frustrating but there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Billings has not yet been ruled out of the series finale on Sunday but it seems unlikely he will make it.